Washington DC

As part of our compensation package, our campground offered us bus tours of Washington DC.

With the first tour, the focus was mainly on Arlington Cemetery. Before going there, it would not have been at the top of my list, but now I'm so glad we did. It was a very moving experience and one I will never forget. We saw monuments commemorating astronauts, sailors and soldiers galore. The number of unknown soldiers was enough to break my heart.

The changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was reverent and precise.

After Arlington, we visited many of the memorials and monuments. We weren't able to see them all, but we plan to do that on our next trip.

The Iwo Jima memorial was massive. I had seen countless photos of it but never realized how large it actually is. Very beautiful and impressive.

The Korean memorial was my favorite. The lifesize statues of the soldiers, detailed down to their facial expressions, created a scene that was emotional and haunting.

I had expected the Lincoln Memorial to be quieter, more reverent, but it wasn't. Not sure if it's always that noisy, or if that day was an exception, but the noise was distracting. The statue of Lincoln is profound.

After viewing the memorials and monuments, we had two hours at the Smithsonian. David and I chose the American History museum as our choice for the day and plan to visit others on our next trip. This was a fun museum, but we were disappointed that a couple of different exhibits we had hoped to see were closed for renovation.

With so much to see in DC, we plan to one day come back to the area and spend more time there. One day is only an appetizer.